Cannabis businesses also are not eligible for any type of federal disaster relief, according to a spokesman for the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

"It's the darkness right before the dawn of legal, regulated cannabis in California," said Hezekiah Allen, executive director of the California Growers Association, who cautioned that the full extent of the damage remains unknown. "These businesses are in a really vulnerable position, and this really came at about the worst time it could have. It means we're on our own."